


Every Night After That

by EllieRose101



Series: With or Without Her [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/M, Season/Series 06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-05 03:42:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15855519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieRose101/pseuds/EllieRose101
Summary: Alternate ending to 'After Life' – the part where Buffy goes to visit Spike in his crypt.





	Every Night After That

**Author's Note:**

> This can be read as a standalone story or as a sequel to my other fic, 'Without Her.'

One Shot 

Spike was pacing the lower part of his crypt, trying and failing to reel in his emotions. He laughed, overcome with joy that the woman he loved was back from the dead, then tried to hold back the tears for having lost her in the first place.

It didn’t work. Even in that, he failed.

He punched a rock and that seemed to help, a little. Maybe if he kept punching it would fix everything. The sound of his front door opening and closing above him saved him from the thought.

Grabbing a dagger and climbing up to greet whatever awaited him, he mentally thanked the gods for a real distraction only to stop when he saw what greeted him.

The sight of her, her back to him, was stunning.

“Buffy,” he said, feeling shaky on his feet. She turned to look at him, and he tried to wipe the emotion from his face; pretended to be okay; tried to make his voice sound even. “You should be careful. Never know what kind of villain’s got a knife at your back.”

She glanced down at the dagger he held and said, softly, “Your hand is hurt.”

He shrugged it off. “Same to you.”

“Right,” she said, nervously putting her injured knuckles behind her back.

The tension built around them, so he walked away to set down the dagger at the opposite side of the room while attempting to collect his thoughts. _Yeah,_ he thought, turning back around. _I’ll change the topic. Good plan._

“Willow’s getting pretty strong, ain’t she? Bringing you back.” _Damn it!_ He almost had it changed, but the discussion always returned to her and what happened. _Will it always come back to this?_ There was nothing for it but to carry on and try to make a joke of it. “It’s hard to get a good night’s death around here.”

_No!_ he chastised himself. _Stupid, STUPID, comment!_ He took a breath. _Let’s try this again._ “You can sit down,” he said, gesturing to the chair directly behind her. “I’ve got furniture,” – another breath. _God, this is like pulling teeth. –_ “You should see the downstairs, too. It’s quite posh.”

Buffy remained silent, despite or maybe because he couldn’t seem to shut up. She just looked at him, making the tension rise again.

Slowly, Spike walked back to where he stood earlier and sat down across from her with a sigh. Still, she just kept looking at him, almost expectantly.

“Uh,” he began, knowing he couldn’t run away from the real conversation any longer. “I do remember what I said. The promise, to protect her…

“If I’d have done that, even if I didn’t make it, you wouldn’t have had to jump.” He bowed his head a little, unable to meet her eyes for a moment. “But I want you to know I did save you.” A smile ghosted past his lips. “Not when it counted, of course, but after that. Every night after that…

“I could see it all again, and do somethin’ different. Faster, more clever, y’know? Dozens of times, lots of different ways.” His voice broke a little as he admitted out loud for the first time, the thoughts he’d kept hidden all summer: “Every night I save you.”

“Spike,” she whispered, looking up at him with tired eyes, face full of apprehension. “Tell me you love me.”

Spike’s eyes widened, his un-beating heart swelling. “I… I love you. You know I do.”

“Tell me you want me.”

“I always want you,” he admitted, despite his brain screaming at him that this was a trap; a dream.

Tears slid down both their cheeks.

“Will you,” she pressed, “Will you just hold me?”

He was speechless, but his body moved into action, automatically going to wrap her in his arms. He took her downstairs and they lay together for a long time; not making love that night, but after that; every night after that. They were inseparable.

He never let her go again.


End file.
